2011-12 Edmonton Oilers in Review: Ryan Smyth

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Ryan Smyth hockey card

When Ryan Smyth returned to Edmonton last June, the response of Oiler fans was overwhelmingly positive. The man who had once seemed sure to be an Oiler “lifer” had departed under acrimonious terms in February, 2007. Since then he had seemed out of place wearing the colours of the Islanders, Avalanche, and Kings; the Oilers meanwhile were running in place, having plummeted off the face of the standings into the league’s basement. Surely the return of Smytty meant better times?

It did, but only to a degree. The Oilers were better in 2011-12, and Smyth’s contributions were part of that improvement; still, 29th place was hardly the objective of Smyth, the Oilers, or their long-suffering fans.

There had been no small drama to the protracted negotiations with the Kings and ultimately the NHL to work out a trade once Smyth made his wish to return to Edmonton clear. First a trade involving Gilbert Brule was nixed due to concerns about his health, then a second deal involving Colin Fraser came under scrutiny when it was discovered that he too had health issues.

Ultimately, the Fraser deal went down, along with a low-round draft choice, seemingly a low acquisition cost for an experienced forward of Smyth’s pedigree. He did, however, come with one year remaining on the massive contract he signed in Denver. His cap hit of $6.25 MM last season was tied with Chris Pronger’s in 2005-06 as the highest ever on the Oilers payroll. Needless to say, Smyth’s impact was nowhere near as great.

For a while, though, things were magical. Smyth had a Nik Khabibulin-calibre renaissance that saw him filling the net through the opening weeks as Oilers roared out of the gate. 22 games into the season he had a dozen goals, a dozen assists, and his 24 points ranked him among the league’s leading scorers. Then the wheels came off, and stayed off, at least at the offensive end. For the entire remaining 60 games Smyth connected for just 7 more goals and 22 points.

Smyth did achieve something unusual for a 36-year-old, namely a career high in penalty minutes with 82. More than a few of these were of the untimely variety, starting with the major he took with just under five minutes left in regulation in the season opener, the score tied at the time. There were times, however, that I didn’t mind him tutoring younger players like Taylor Hall the black art of self-protection. One hopes they were watching and learning while the veteran role model demonstrated such time-honoured techniques as the sneaky shoulder and the Sherwood Sandwich.

Between a few weeks of first-line scoring and a few months of third-line production, on balance Smyth proved to be a second-line player, albeit a durable one — he was the only Oiler to play all 82 games. He did rank second among Oiler forwards in total ice time due to his contributions on both special teams, but broken down by situation he was fifth in even strength ice time, fifth in PP ice time, and fourth on the PK, suggesting second unit in all three cases. He finished fifth among Oiler forwards in points.

Probing deeper into some of the advanced (a.k.a. “untraditional”) stats, among the 16 Oiler forwards to play 10+ games, Smyth had the fifth toughest Zone Starts on the team, and his three Quality of Competition metrics were fourth or fifth toughest in each case. He was sixth among Oiler forwards in hits, seventh in blocked shots. He was eighth in Relative Corsi, fifth in PDO#, sixth in +/- per 60. All of which suggests that he was a solid support player on a team that didn’t have enough of those, but not exactly the difference maker one would expect for that expensive ticket.

The big ticket has now expired and it’s decision time for Smyth, Steve Tambellini and the Oilers. Rumours continued to swirl around this player as the season went along — that he was on the trading block, that he was on the verge of signing an extension, that he wanted longer term than the team was offering, etc., etc. Just before the trade deadline he met with Tambellini and seemingly cleared the air to remain with the team down the stretch while details of an extension were worked out, but to date there has been no announcement. Whatever he does sign next will be as an over-35, so the Oilers need to tread carefully when it comes to granting multiple years. A year at a time seems the more prudent approach from the team’s perspective, although maybe not the player’s.

There’s also the school of thought in some quarters that a veteran like Smyth is eating up ice time that might better go to a developing youngster like Magnus Paajarvi or Linus Omark. Those two youngsters found themselves cooling their heels in the minors this past year because they were unable to establish themselves in the top nine. Of course, there is also an opposing school of thought that more youngsters in the place of Oilers’ few reliable veterans may well have been eaten alive; that there simply isn’t enough room to shelter all the developing players and a guy like Smyth provides an important function as a provider of said shelter.

For sure, Ryan Smyth is a veteran “actual NHLer” who has seen and done it all, and who can be confidently put out on the ice in virtually any situation. That has value. How much? That’s the question. Stay tuned.

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